The present invention relates to frozen par-fried potato strips comprising about 38% to about 58% moisture which remain fresh tasting after frozen storage. More particularly this invention relates to parfried potato strips for subsequent reconstitution in an oven prior to consumption. The oven finished fries have substantially the same texture and flavor as deep fried French fries. Further, the oven finished fries show a vast improvement in texture and flavor when compared to commercially prepared par-fries which have been oven finished.
French fries are one of the most popular convenience foods. A wide variety of French fried potato products are produced for both foodservice and home use. French fried potato strips, commonly referred to as "French fries" are served in most fast food restaurants. Most restaurants including large restaurants and consumers prefer to prepare the French fries from the frozen or chilled partially fried product (hereinafter par-fried) rather than go through the procedure of preparing French fries from raw potatoes. The par-fried potatoes are converted by the fast food restaurant or consumer into products such as French fried potatoes and the like.
The use of par-fried potato strips has been widely adopted in fast food restaurants because of the advantages they offer. A few of the recognized advantages associated with the use of chilled and frozen par-fried potato strips are, for example, users know the exact cost, the number of servings and the cost per portion. In addition, use of the frozen par-fried potatoes simplifies storage and inventory control, assures uniform quality from one season to another and reduces labor and time preparation for serving.
A major problem confronted by fast food restaurants is obtaining oven finished French fries which have the taste and texture of fries finished by frying in hot oil. Important features of French fries finished by deep frying are interior moistness and crispness of the crust. However, heretofore, achieving these product characteristics generally has not been possible when the products are oven finished. The oven finished products are typically leathery, tough, drier and less lubricious than French fries finished by frying in hot oil or they tend to be limp and soggy and do not have a crisp crust. These problems are recognized by the consumer and, more particularly, by fast food restaurant operators. As a result fast food restaurants seldom practice/use oven finishing techniques for preparing French fries.
Several methods exist for modifying par-fry processing conditions and/or shapes of parfried and frozen potato strips in an effort to improve taste and textural characteristics when finished by methods other than frying in hot oil. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,020 issued to The United States of America and U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,575 issued to AMFAC Foods, Inc. A method for preparing par-fried French fried potato strips for fast food restaurants is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,305 (Wilder), wherein potato strips are dehydrated to reduce their moisture content by 10%-30%, blanched, par-fried for 30-90 seconds at about 300.degree. F. to about 400.degree. F. (149.degree. C. to about 204.degree. C.) and then frozen.
Another method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,993 (Strong) comprises blanching raw potato strips by steam or hot water and dehydrating the strips in hot air to cause a weight loss of at least 20%. The strips are then par-fried for 30-60 seconds at 375.degree. F. (190.degree. C.) and then frozen to about 0.degree. F. (-17.8.degree. C.).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,080 (Pinegar) discloses subjecting potato strips to blanching, par-frying for 50-100 seconds at 360.degree. F. (182.degree. C.), intermediate freezing at -40.degree. F. (-40.degree. C.) for 10 minutes, a longer par-frying for 2-4 minutes at 360.degree. F. (182.degree. C.) and blast freezing.
While these processes may provide limited improvements in taste and texture, they do not provide frozen par-fried potato strips which, when baked in an oven, have substantially the same texture and flavor as deep fried potato strips. Further, there appears to be nothing addressing off flavor development during cold storage.
The present invention consists of a process for producing par-fries that have good texture upon oven finishing. Additionally the present invention consists of a novel process for producing storage stable frozen partially fried potato products, more specifically partially fried potato strips. Typically par-fried potato strips that are intended to be finished by cooking are relatively high in moisture content (e.g., about 60% to 70% moisture). When these parfries are finished by baking in an oven, the bake time is relatively long (e.g., .gtoreq.10 minutes) and the finished fries are generally limp and soggy and do not have a crisp crust. To shorten the baking time and improve the surface texture, the parfries can be fried to lower moisture contents (e.g. &lt;60% H.sub.2 O). However, frozen par-fried potato strips that comprise less than about 60% moisture tend to develop undesirable off-flavors during storage at temperatures between about 0.degree. F. (-17.8.degree. C.) to about 20.degree. F. (-6.7.degree. C.). The off-flavor may be described as "stale" and/or "cardboard". Although this development of off-flavor may not be noticeable when the par-fries are finished by a deep-fry process, it is very noticeable when the fries are oven-finished.
While not wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that the components responsible for the off-flavors volatilize during the frying process and that any off-flavors in the French fries are masked and/or diluted by the uptake of conditioned oil from the frying kettle. However, in the frozen par-fried potato strips that are finish cooked by an oven baking process, the stale or cardboard off-flavor is not voltailized, masked or diluted and therefore, the stale or cardboard flavor is quite noticeable.
Commercial par-fried potato products are often shipped over long distances and generally must be stored for extended periods of time in the frozen state at about 0.degree. F. (-17.8.degree. C.) prior to ultimate purchase by the consumer. The potato strips are partially fried, then frozen or chilled and packaged. The packaged par-fries are shipped to restaurants, groceries, or ultimate consumers. During shipping and storage and until they are prepared, the products are refrigerated (i.e. held in a chilled state at cold storage temperatures of about 35.degree. F. to about 45.degree. F. (1.7.degree. C. to about 7.2.degree. C.) or held in a frozen state at temperatures below 32.degree. F. (0.degree. C.). Prior to consumption, the chilled or frozen par-fried potato strips are reconstituted (e.g., by finish frying in oil, baking, microwaving) to produce ready-to-eat French fries.
Therefore, it can be seen that providing storage stable par-fries, comprising less than about 60% moisture, that retain good flavor when baked in an oven is a difficult task. Lower temperature storage (e.g., .ltoreq.-20.degree. F., -28.9.degree. C.) can extend the storage life somewhat, but is not an ideal solution since lower temperature is not compatible with a typical 0.degree. F. (-17.8.degree. C.) frozen food storage and distribution system in the United States.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide frozen paried potatoes which are flavor stable for at least 1 month when stored at about 0.degree. F. (-17.8.degree. C.) to 20.degree. F. (-6.7.degree. C.).
It is another objective of the present invention to provide chilled or frozen par-fried potato strips which remain fresh tasting upon cooking, particularly oven baking, after frozen storage.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide frozen parfried potatoes, which when oven finished, will have substantially the same crispness and textural attributes of French fried potatoes that have been finished by deep frying.